Gintama Drabbles
by Kagehana.Tsukio
Summary: A set of drabbles of Gintama. Most will be AU drabbles from some of my own stories and ideas that may or may have not been published yet. Please Read and Review!
1. Two Sides of a Silver Soul 1

**MPD!Gintama – Gintoki Takasugi First Meeting**

**AN: I probably should have done this earlier... So, this is an excerpt of an AU in which Gintoki has MPD - aka Multiple Personality Disorder. It's probably not really noticeable in this, but that's okay. This is one of my story ideas that will most likely get turned into a real story sooner or later. Thanks for reading~ **

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"…After all, you have a beast inside of you as dark as mine, don't you?"

It was more of a statement than a question and they both knew it. But Gin replied anyway.

"Hmph. That was a long time ago. And don't compare me to you, you stupid cyclops."

Gintoki huffed at his old-once childhood friend, before moving to walk away, yet he couldn't help but feel that Takasugi was talking about something else.

_Rustle_. He froze. The pale glint of the blade shone bright silver as it rested against his neck, pushing against the vulnerable skin, threatening to break the thin membrane and spill blood.

He tried to reach for his bokuto, but the sword at his neck shifted, pressing even deeper into his flesh, even cutting a small slice and causing a small bead of blood to trickle down his neck.

He could hear the other man click his tongue from behind him.

"Tsk. I thought I could get you to join me, or at least manage to unleash the beast sleeping inside you – after all, we both hate this wretched world, right?" Takasugi finished with a sardonic smile sitting on his lips/

'_this world that took Sensei away from us.'_ Went unspoken between the two.

"You're right. I hate this world too Shinsuke," Gin said, completely missing the slight shiver that stole across Takasugi's body as he listened to his name fall from that mouth, "But, it is in this world that I have also found things to protect." Gintoki's mind flashed to Kagura and Shinpachi, even to Otae, Oguuchi-kun, the Gorilla and the rest of those tax robbers. He smiled.

"And now this beast protects what he loves; unlike you, who is a mad beast always snarling at the world around him."

Takasugi's lips twisted into a scowl as he listened to what Gintoki was saying.

"So I assume this means you won't join me?" he asked, not expecting an answer, as he continued what he was saying.

"Well then," he said casually as he moved the sword away from Gin's neck, "If you're not going to join me…"

"…then you'll just have to disappear!" he finished with a shout as he swiftly brought his blade down in a powerful swing.

* * *

A flash of silver lightning against the soft moonlight.

Gintoki had barely caught it from the corner of his eye as he spun around, ready to retaliate to what Takasugi had said, only to find the cold steel of a blade only a hair's breadth from the vulnerable skin of his neck. Acting more on instinct than any conscious thought, his red eyes narrowed into a glare and he _shifted._

Gintoki blinked, and Shiroyasha opened his eyes.

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**Please leave a review on your way out. **

**P.S. There will most likely be another drabble soon continuing this one. :)**


	2. Shinsengumi Gintoki 1

**AN: An excerpt of what would be in an AU world where Gintoki is part of the Shinsengumi, and his first meeting with Katsura after the end of the Joui war. **

**Enjoy~ **

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"OI! COME OUT HERE KATSURA KOTAROU! YOU ARE SURROUNDED AND ARE UNDER ARREST FOR REPEATED CRIMES OF TERRORISM AND RESISTING THE LAW! IT'S TIME FOR YOUR HEAD TO ROLL!"

The shouting came from the black-haired, demon vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, Hijikata Toushirou, as he yelled into his megaphone at the building in front of him. His steely blue eyes were alit with fury, but also with an almost maniacal gleam at finally having cornered the infamous terrorist.

The man was next to his commander, Kondo Isao, who was standing there with his arms crossed and his face etched with determination. On Kondo's other side, there stood a young man in his late teens with light brown hair and reddish-brown eyes. This was Okita Sougo, the Captain of the Shinsengumi, and proclaimed 'Prince of Sadists'. There was another member to this group of heroic men, but he was somewhere else right now – _not that he would be helpful anyway_ Hijikata said.

The rest of the Shinsengumi men were surrounding the building. Most were spread out in a half-moon formation behind their leaders in preparation to catch Katsura if he came out from the front. However, there were also numerous men at the back of the building as well if he tried to escape, and in helicopters monitoring the rooftops – one of the Joui veteran's favorite escape routes.

As the men kept their eyes trained on the main entrance, back entrance, and rooftop respectively, no one noticed a slender figure wearing a straw hat slip out of one of the less noticeable side entrances, before making his way out of the alley.

Just as he came out of the alley nearby one of the Shinsengumi's par that was parked there, a lower member finally noticed him.

"Hey you!" the man barked out, "What are you doing here? And where did you come from?"

The figure did not say anything, but simply pointed at the building beside the one that the Shinsengumi was surrounding in response.

The Shinsengumi member closed his eyes and breathed out a sigh at the realization of what the person was saying. "Oh, you're just a worker at the other building." He looked back up again before saying: "You should get out of here. It's unsafe. We are capturing a dangerous terrorist, and there's no need for an innocent worker like you to be suspected for anything."

The figure merely tipped his hat in thanks, before continuing on his way.

The Shinsengumi member watched as the other walked away, making sure that he was leaving the area safely –

"OI TORISHITA! QUIT SLACKING OFF"

–that was, of course, before the vice-commander had seen him standing around.

* * *

The person – now easily identifiable as someone of the male gender due to the shadows no longer obstructing ones sight – who had just been dismissed by the Shinsengumi member, was continuing to walk away, as he passed by the car belonging to the Shinsengumi, and subsequently the person sleeping against the door of it.

He had just walked clear of the car, when the man stopped. He looked over his shoulder for a moment, before completely turning around and taking a few steps back to where he had just come from. Reaching the car once more, he knelt down for a second, obscuring the vision of anyone who would be watching, before coming back up. However, there was something different now. As he walked away now, finally getting ready to leave the street, he had another person over his shoulder.

The person who was slung over the figure's shoulder was, even at first glance, obviously a man. The man was wearing a Shinsengumi uniform and had bright, silver colored curly hair, though you couldn't see the colour of his eyes as he was asleep and they were closed.

Speaking of the Shinsengumi, let's get back to them…

The Shinsengumi were still surrounding the building, waiting for the terrorist to come out. Finally having enough, Hijikata shoved the megaphone he was holding into Sougo's hands. He stormed over to the car at the side.

"Geez… that stupid perm-headed idiot. How hell can just laze around like! We have a terrorist to catch and he's just sleeping like that?" he muttered to himself angrily, as he finally got to the car, ready to pull the other man into finally doing his job.

A confused look came over his face. "Huh? Where the hell is he? Don't tell me he ran off to get more of that stupid Jump of his again…" He looked around, only to see the figure walking towards the end of the street with the silver-headed man over his shoulder.

"Hey! You! What the hell do you think you're doing with that idiot!?" Hijikata shouted at the figure, anger hidden in his voice. This caused most of the Shinsengumi to look over to see what their demon Vice-commander was shouting at.

The man stopped, but didn't turn around.

A low and elegant sounding voice, which indicated a slight noble status, rang out.

"I'm just taking him somewhere, don't worry about it."

_Hmph. _A snort escaped Hijikata. "Hah, you really think that will make me trust **you**? I'll say it again, what the hell do you think you are doing with that perm-headed idiot? And just who are **you**, _kachuu-san_*_?_"

The still-unidentified person turned around in a flurry, finally causing his straw hat to fall off his head.

"_It's not Kachuu-san! It's Katsura!" _

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_***kachuu: **_**aristocracy or nobility**

**Please leave a review on your way out. **


	3. The Young Noble of the Yorozuya 1

**AN: So this time it's a Yorozuya!Katsura story that's been inspired by the latest arc in the Gintama manga. Right now it's not much (kind of a prologue of what the story would actually be about) but be assured that this one is definitely going to have a follow up! ...maybe. **

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The three teens – _no young men now, they had seen too much to be simply called teens_ – were facing each other as they stood among the camp that the other Joui patriots had set up a ways from the battlefield that they fought on.

"_Gintoki_…what did you just say?" The words rang out disbelievingly from Takasugi as he stared at one of the few people that he could actually call a _friend_.

"I said it once and I'll say it again." For once (off the battlefield at least), Gintoki's face was completely serious as he stared at his two childhood friends.

"I'm leaving. This war is over- can't you tell?!", here Gintoki waved his arm around, roughly indicating to everything around him, "We all know that the news that we received of the Bakufu – _no, _ the Shogun giving up Edo over to the Amanto is true, and even now we are fighting with all we can, but _look._ Look at all of those other people, Samurai who are still fighting for the sake of a lost country, and imagine their families futilely waiting for them to come home. I can't stand this anymore. This war was over a long time ago, but we just never accepted it. I don't regret fighting, but the _only thing _that I've ever wanted to protect was _you! My friends!"_

At this point Gintoki was breathing harshly (after all he had just shouted out some of his innermost feelings to his friends), as he stared at Takasugi and Katsura, and their taken aback faces.

He recomposed himself, and steeled his nerves for what he was going to say next.

"I'm done. If you want to meet up with me, or you need help, sure I don't mind. But don't expect me to watch you as you waste yourselves in this useless, bloody fight. I'm not leaving because I'm giving up; I'm not leaving because I don't want to help either."

A weighted pause hung in the air and a saddened, anguished look entered Gintoki's dark red eyes.

"I just don't want to see two of my only friends _die_ for a cause that they don't truly believe in with their whole soul."

* * *

Nothing was said as Gintoki began to walk away from Shinsuke and Kotarou.

Kotarou had nothing to say from what he had just heard.

Truly? Gintoki truly thought that about them, and had forced him to fight all this time just for their sakes? Oh he knew that Gintoki wanted to avenge Sensei's death as well, but he was never really one to hold a grudge _(especially with how much Gintoki idolized Sensei and his teachings, and as much as Kotarou tried to convince himself this was all for Sensei – deep inside he knew…)_.

How come he had never wondered why Gintoki _kept on and was _still_ fighting_?

A small shift from beside him drew Kotarou out of his musings as he turned to look at Shinsuke.

His other childhood friend had an indescribable look on his face, but Kotarou could only think that Shinsuke looked _betrayed_.

Shinsuke opened his mouth to say talk as he stepped forward and grabbed a hold of one of Gintoki's wrists.

"You're just going to _leave?_" Maybe it was the way he said it, but the unspoken words _'_leave _us?_' hung between the three of them silently, almost accusingly as Kotarou watched Shinsuke looked imploringly at Gintoki's back.

He could see Gintoki freeze, and then his whole body – _still stained the red of the blood of the enemies from the battlefield, fitting so much of his moniker_ – _**flinched**__._

Utter silence filled the air, and the world seemed to have stopped for the three of them.

_._

_._

_._

_And all Kotarou could do was wonder – just how did things start to turn out this way?_

* * *

The world was frozen, or so it seemed. Then, the illusion shattered.

"…Kami, Gintoki."

The icy silence was broken by a simple statement from Shinsuke.

"I thought you were better than that."

It seemed almost as if Shinsuke had lost all of the energy he had left, like it had all been sucked out of him. All of a sudden it seemed as if shadows had formed under his eyes out of nowhere, as he brought up a hand and raked it through his dark purple-tinted hair, before finally curling his lips up into a tired, lazy _(pained)_ smirk.

"Heh. I guess I thought wrong. Turns out, you were just like that bastard Tatsuma."

In the next instance, a look of inexplicable, pure, unbridled _pain_ flashed through Shinsuke's only remaining eye, and once was a bright and glittering olive green stained into a murky, clouded colour of its old vibrancy, the light having fallen into its depths.

Slowly, it came back (_but still not as bright as before-no never again will it be_), and to anyone else looking at Shinsuke, it would seem as if nothing had even happened.

"Tch. You really are a bastard, Gintoki."

And with that final statement, Shinsuke strode forward, a new purpose – _different in its ideals, but strong nonetheless in its resolve_ – spurring him onwards as he brushed past Gintoki, and leaving Kotarou behind.

Nothing would be the same anymore.

.

.

.

_And in the corners of their minds, hearts and souls, three people could hear a faint sound – the sound of a single chain shattering as it broke off from the rest. _

* * *

Kotarou ignored the bustling sounds of other samurai outside of his tent as he went through his already scare belongings _(you could not keep much of value while fighting a harsh war, though that was a lesson some learned the hard way)_, packing what he deemed necessary to bring. After all, he thought to himself, I can't afford to bring too much for fear of weighing us down, but I need to be able to protect Gintoki and myself from anyone who wants to harm us.

He was so busy putting things into his bag, that he did not hear the flap to his tent opening, and the quiet sound of footsteps coming to a stop in the 'doorway' of the tent.

A low-tenored voice suddenly spoke out behind him.

"Zura."

Kotarou stilled. His mind however, was not quite as motionless.

How did he not hear his friend enter? Dammit, he knew he should have been paying more attention!

Kotarou did not turn around. He could hear Shinsuke walk in from where he stood at the entrance of the tent, before finally coming to a stop, standing only a few steps behind him.

"So you're going too, huh? I guess I should have expected it," A small rueful smile, tinged slightly with an edge of bitterness emerged on Shinsuke's face, although Kotarou could not see it. "You always _were_ closer with Gintoki than me, even if only Gintoki and I could keep up with each other when we really got into it on the battlefield."

Kotarou jolted, almost at a loss from what he just heard. _Shinsuke...What was Shinsuke __**saying**_!?

He spun around, urgency so rarely, yet so often showed lining his every move.

"Shinsuke! You know that's not tru…"

Kotarou let himself trail off, as he stared at the expression that rarely graced _(more like never)_ his childhood friend's face.

If anything, it could be called a peaceful expression – for Shinsuke that is. It wasn't a smile – barely a smirk really, but there was ease in his friends face _(there were no more crinkles in between his brow and just how could he look so much younger with only a single change) _indicating that for the first time in a long while Shinsuke was finally content. Maybe not with what was going on, what had just happened, and certainly not with what had become of the relationship among the three of them, but Shinsuke was at least at peace with himself.

"Oi Zura."

Kotarou snapped out of his reverie of his friend's new change as he automatically responded to that dreaded nickname.

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura. And what Shinsuke?"

Shinsuke let out a small chuckle at the usual reaction he had goaded out of Kotarou. At least one thing would never change.

"I've just got one thing to tell you before you leave. I may not like Gintoki – though he is my friend – and I'm sure that the feeling is mutual. But all three of us know that after…" _–Sensei-_ "…_that_…none of us will ever let something like that happen to us again. So make sure you keep him out of trouble."

Kotarou stared at his friend, and he could _feel _the subtle relief filling his mind. Maybe things between them still had a chance at being fixed. Not completely to the way they were before of course, things had changed too much that to happen, but perhaps they could still have a chance at staying close friends with each other, like they had always been.

Taking a deep breathe, Kotarou searched out his friends olive green eyes _(they had always made Shinsuke unique from everyone else)_, and met them with his own dark brown ones.

They held each other's' gaze as moments went by.

Finally Katsura broke the exchange, unnamed emotions flickering through his eyes as he kept his sight focused on his friend _(and who always would be his friend)_.

"Of course, Shinsuke. I would have done it anyways, even if you didn't say anything."

Shinsuke let out a hum of agreement at Kotarou's reply.

"Well then," Shinsuke turned around, and started making his way out of the tent again. "It seems like what I came here for is done."

_Clack. _

_Clack. _

_Clack. _

Each single step forward that Shinsuke took felt like he was getting miles and miles further away from him, Kotarou thought. Then he had an epiphany, and before he could stop himself his body lunged forward and grabbed hold of Shinsuke's shoulder.

"Shinsuke!...Don't get yourself killed out there. If you ever need help, just call for us- we'll help. Even if Gintoki protests I'll still drag him there – you know what he's like, he'll never admit it himself."

Kotarou wasn't sure what he was saying anymore. All he knew was that he didn't want Shinsuke to leave – not without giving voice to all the things left unsaid that hung between them. His grip on Shinsuke's shoulder was tight as his friend turned back to look at him, the faintest hint of a smile pulling at the edges of his lips.

"Yeah, I know," Shinsuke said quietly. "And… you too, Zura. Take care of yourself."

Kotarou nodded, for once not protesting to the use of that hated nickname. Shinsuke held out his hand, and Kotarou grasped it with every ounce of his strength.

Before he knew it Shinsuke had released him and stepped back, giving him a final glance before he turned away.

And one of his best friends walked out of his life without looking back.

.

.

.

_A new link was forming, more fragile than what once was, still tentative in its bonds, but steadfast in its will to repair a friendship that could have lasted forever. _

* * *

Gintoki stood a few steps away from the camp, taking his last glimpse of what had been his home for the past few years of constant battles and war – _the people making up the home not the place – _and saying his final goodbyes to his friends in his head.

_Shin-teme…sorry I couldn't tell you in a better way. I didn't mean for us to part on such bad terms. I knew you would take it badly like this –that's the way you are. But still I thought that….perhaps it could have been different. But still, no matter what happens, I know that if you need help, I'll help you. Just let me know – don't hesitate. After all, we made each made a promise that day. You, vengeance for Sensei. Zura, the honour of our country. Me, to protect our friends – yes, including you. But…this is something that needs to be done. I can't do this anymore – I can't stand by and watch as comrade and friend after friend falls on that bloody battlefield and as you slowly lose your own soul day-by-day. So…goodbye.' _

Gintoki turned around and began walking away from the camp, and towards the rest of the country.

Or rather, he would have if he wasn't stopped by a shout of his name.

"Gintoki!"

He paused.

"Zura?"

And indeed, it was Katsura who was running towards him with a bag slung over his shoulder and his hair tied back, slightly red in the face.

"Tsk. It's not Zura, it's Katsura."

Even Gintoki cracked a slight smile at the familiar quip to his hated nickname.

"What, did you expect me to just let you go alone and leave me behind, Gintoki?"

A boyish grin _(and wasn't that just sad when they were barely out of their teens themselves) _spread across Zura's face as he looked at Gintoki with a glint in his eyes _(always so stubborn)_.

"Don't forget just who it was who did most of the saving each other Here Gintoki. You wouldn't last a week – no, three days without me."

The silence after this statement seemed to stretch longer than the scant few minutes it truly was, before Gintoki finally deigned to answer.

"…Zura. I'm the one who saved you more."

Gin turned back around and started to walk away again.

Hearing no footsteps behind him, he looked over his shoulder with a slightly questioning look.

"Well? Are you coming?"

.

.

.

_Two of the three had made up and were now setting their own course in the world. But the third, oh the third was still connected to them in a ghost of what it used to be, but there is still the chance of reconciliation in the coming future._

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**Please leave a review on your way out. :)**


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